Spanish minister says US plane stops legal

[JURIST] Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos [Euroresidentes] said Thursday that media reports that US CIA planes had made secret illegal stops in Spain while carrying terror suspects were unjustified as the US stopovers were legal, but promised to check aircraft more closely in the future. Spain has already been investigating allegations of the secret landings [JURIST report] in connection with newspaper stories accusing the US of operating secret CIA jails in Europe, an allegation the US has not confirmed or denied. Spain is currently seeking an explanation from the US, including questions regarding alleged landings in Majorca and the Canary Islands. The European Union will formally ask the US Tuesday to respond to reports that the CIA runs secret prisons [JURIST news archive] in eastern Europe. The questioning stems from the CIA's controversial "extraordinary rendition" [New Yorker report] program in which it removes suspects without approval of the US courts to third-party countries for interrogation. BBC News has more.

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